Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

Their resolve in the 4-0 vote rejecting an appeal of a Marion County development proposal was strengthened by the clear counsel of Tom Pelham, the state's top growth management expert, and the courageous grassroots challenge mounted by two Marion County women -- Susan Woods and Karen Reico -- to the proposal. The women, without lawyers, exposed a gaping flaw in previous local and state officials' initial approval of an amendment to the county's growth blueprint that would permit dense development. The outcome of the appeal has broad implications for all of Florida.

Mark Lane: "it's hard to think of a better example of the way closed primaries, winner-take-all contests, careful gerrymandering and an apathetic electorate combine to give us legislators very few people ever voted for. Still, only 4 percent of registered voters in his district voted for him, and that will make him senator. It's easy to wonder if that's really democracy in action. ... It's kind of like democracy. Just not as much as you may think." "District 8 Senate race not exactly democracy in action".

Wingnuttery's new mission

"The tidal wave of controversy over ACORN swept rapidly through Florida on Thursday with dozens of angry people contacting Gov. Charlie Crist's office and his political rival questioning his ties to the organization."

A top Florida House Republican, meanwhile, said the Legislature could take its own action against the national community organizing group, which has been severely damaged by hidden camera video showing workers giving tax advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and a pimp.

"The gig is up for ACORN," said state Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, a longtime critic of the group, which helped register hundreds of thousands of voters nationwide in the 2008 election.

Though ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, has been controversial over the years, the presidential election revealed incidents in Florida and other states where ACORN workers made up bogus voter registration forms, including one for Mickey Mouse.

Crist's challenger for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2010 invoked the storm in a letter Thursday.

"A lunch prayer given by a rural Panhandle athletic director and requested by the school's principal didn't violate a federal court order against praying at school events, a judge ruled Thursday."

The two men had faced up to six months in jail and $5,000 in fines for violating a 2008 settlement agreement of a lawsuit against the Santa Rosa County District.

The agreement prohibited school officials from praying or promoting prayer at school events and district officials admitted a long-standing culture of promoting Christianity at the rural northern Panhandle high school.

"At first glance, Florida’s newest U.S. Senator George LeMieux appears to offer Senate Democrats a tantalizing propsect for the 60th vote they need to pass health care reform legislation this fall."

The Broward County Republican has expressed liberal views in the past on issues like gay adoptions and was appointed three weeks ago by Gov. Charlie Crist, who has a history of crossing party lines.

But in an interview Thursday, LeMieux gave little indication he is a winnable vote for Democrats. Instead, LeMieux stressed that he had “serious concerns” about the latest health care reform proposal being pushed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana. The Baucus plan would make more than $400 billion in cuts in Medicare funding, a deal breaker for LeMieux.

"Work crews spent nearly two years scraping away muck and blasting through limestone to lay the groundwork for a city-sized reservoir on farmland in southwest Palm Beach County. But now, after South Florida taxpayers invested almost $280 million in the unfinished project, water managers say the reservoir might be in the wrong place." "Halted reservoir construction leaves South Florida taxpayers with $280 million tab".

The Saint Petersburg Times editorial board: "How many more examples of bad judgment do Hillsborough County commissioners need to see before they show County Administrator Pat Bean the door?" "Bean's conduct again appalls".

"Forget that talk about Kathleen Ford and Bill Foster running a respectful, amiable campaign for mayor of St. Petersburg. That prospect ended when Ford suggested out of the blue that Foster might have known more than he let on about late City Council member John Bryan allegedly being a pedophile." "Mayor's race turns ugly".

"Floridians searching for treasure"

"The economic downturn has Floridians searching for treasure. The state has millions of dollars worth of unclaimed silver, gold, jewels and other property locked away in Tallahassee, and people's interest in the forgotten treasure has increased as the economy has soured." "State seeks owners of millions in unclaimed treasures".

"The Keys' former schools superintendent was sentenced to probation and community service for covering up his wife's alleged theft of nearly $200,000 in school-district funds." "Ex-schools boss spared jail time".